River and Bayou

Temperatures near 95. THI over 110. It’s downright hot paddling in the middle of the shadeless big river. And even though the river is low – and dropping – it’s still got a pretty good current. So I paddled over 25 miles today. But it wasn’t easy.

The places to stop and stretch my legs seem far and few between. Tree-lined shores on the outside of each never-ending bend are covered by boulders or revetments put in place by the Corp of Engineers to prevent erosion and keep the river’s main channel relatively stable and from shifting year to year. So landing on the rocks is pretty much out of the question. At the other extreme are large, expansive sandbars on the inside of those same bends. Usually inviting places to stop and picnic, in today’s heat they were more desert than oasis. Leaving the cockpit of my canoe to fry on a large sand flat wasn’t all that appealing. So mostly I sat in the canoe, paddled and drifted in the heat, put on more sun block, and dipped a cloth in the river water to cool off as best I could.

And I remembered something I’ve forgotten in the twenty years since last I paddled these big waters. Paddling the river is monotonous. The scenery never changes. Except for the occasional barge, or turbulence and eddies near the end of a outward extending dike, or avoiding the one-ton red or green channel buoys which, because of the river’s current, I always seem to approach much faster than expected, it’s just boring. And the oppressive heat makes it worse.

Anyway, called it a day around 5 PM. Found a nice little beach campsite, unloaded my canoe and dragged it up out of the water, set up camp, and then took a nice long skinny dip in the cool river waters. Then had a MRE beef stew (which was pretty good) and was in bed by 7:30 PM. Tired and beat. Which may be how I end all my blog entries these first few days until I find my rhythm.